Tamiya Models USS Missouri BB-63 Circa 1991 1/350 Model Kit TM78029 Review (2026)

Who this kit suits

Tamiya's 1/350 Missouri depicts BB-63 as she looked in 1991, refitted decades after her World War Two commission with Tomahawk launchers, a modern radar suite and other Cold War-era additions layered onto her original 1944 hull. That late-service fit is the main draw for builders who want an American subject with real history behind it: Missouri hosted Japan's surrender signing on her deck in September 1945, then returned to duty and fought again in the Gulf War. Anyone wanting the wartime 1945 configuration instead should look at an earlier-fit Iowa-class kit, since this box is built specifically around the 1991 profile, radar mast and all, rather than her original wartime armament and silhouette.

Scale, size and included detail parts

At 1/350 scale the finished hull runs 774mm long, 94.5mm wide and 182mm tall according to Tamiya, making this one of the larger ship kits in the lineup and a genuine shelf centerpiece rather than a small display piece. Tamiya's own listing highlights accurate reproduction of the bridge, Tomahawk launcher deck, aft deck, dome-shaped radar, the 12.7cm dual-purpose gun turrets, Mk 38 fire director and Mk 13 radar, plus turret and deck ventilators modeled in scale. The box includes two sets of photo-etched parts so builders can choose between air-search and surface-search radar and discone antenna arrangements, along with wire for rigging cable runs and a display stand included in the base kit.

Build quality and assembly

Tamiya's engineering is the other reason this kit shows up near the top of ship-kit comparisons: the large hull halves are designed to close up with minimal warping, which matters on a model this long, since a bowed hull is difficult to correct after the glue sets. Deck fittings, turrets and superstructure pieces follow Tamiya's usual tight tolerances, so most of the build time goes into painting and rigging rather than fighting poor part fit. The tradeoff shows up once the modern radar arrays, whip antennas and mast structures go on near the end of the build, since these thin, exposed parts are fragile and easy to snap while handling the model afterward, so many builders leave them until the very last step before display.

How it compares with other ship kits

In ship kit comparisons Missouri sits in the middle of the pack, ranked below Tamiya's own Yamato and Bismarck kits but ahead of Academy's Warspite and Revell's Constitution offerings. Compared with those Japanese and German battleship kits, Missouri's late-Cold-War refit gives it a different appeal: it rewards a haze grey modern paint job and photo-etched radar detail rather than the elaborate wood decking and rigging that wins Yamato and Bismarck their higher marks. For US Navy collectors or anyone drawn to the Gulf War-era Iowa-class look specifically, that tradeoff is the point rather than a downside, since no rival kit in this comparison depicts Missouri's later-service configuration.

Painting and finishing tips

Because the whole point of this boxing is the modern haze grey scheme rather than a wartime camouflage pattern, the finished model can read flat or toy-like without some panel variation, post-shading or a light wash to bring out the deck detail Tamiya molded in. Photo-etched radar parts benefit from careful painting before final assembly, since they are hard to reach once the masts are in place, and a stable, well-lit workspace helps with handling parts this delicate. Given the finished size, planning display space and a secure spot for the included stand before starting the build is worth doing early, rather than after the hull is already assembled and painted.

Frequently asked questions